Ipetumodu leaders break silence on monarch’s four-year jail term in US fraud case
Leaders of the Ipetumodu community in Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State have formally broken their silence on the four-year jail term handed down to the town’s traditional ruler, Oba Joseph Olugbemiga Oloyede, by an American court for fraud.
In an official reaction to the matter, the leaders appealed to the people to remain calm, peaceful, and law-abiding despite the ordeal of the first-class traditional ruler.
Acting under the aegis of the Ipetumodu Descendants Progressive Union, IDPU, the leaders assured that the American court judgment would be studied at the appropriate time.
Oba Oloyede, a first-class monarch, was convicted in the United States on charges relating to COVID-19 relief fund fraud, having admitted to defrauding the American government of more than four million dollars.
He has since been ordered to repay the money and to forfeit all his properties to the American authorities.
In a public statement issued on Thursday, the National President of the Union, Dr Israel Akinjogbin, assured citizens that the situation remained under control and urged the community not to allow the development to disrupt their daily lives.
According to Dr Akinjogbin, while the news of the monarch’s conviction has come as “an unthinkable” to many, it is important for the people of Ipetumodu to distinguish between the legal proceedings abroad and the peace and order at home.
The union counselled residents to continue to be law-abiding and not to foment trouble, adding that Ipetumodu is always a peaceful town and will not accept anything that may disrupt its longstanding coexistence.
Meanwhile, the Osun State Government has said it will obtain the Certified True Copy of the US court judgment that sentenced the monarch before making any official statement, stressing that it would not act on social media reports.
The traditional ruler was on Tuesday sentenced to 56 months’ imprisonment by US District Judge Christopher A. Boyko, in addition to forfeiting cash, a house, and other assets to the American government.
Ipetumodu leaders break silence on monarch’s four-year jail term in US fraud case
